Wardrobe



J. F. WINN, JR

Aug. 14, 1934.

WARDROBE Filed March 14, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR JOHN F? wmrv,Jim,

ATTORNEYS J. F. WINN, JR

Aug. 14, 1934.

WARDROBE Filed March 14 1952 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 a. .J a & Mw 5 V.. ,2 Rm Mmw m 4 5 mfi n 6 mm A H w F Y B e 7 m V J v 2 I. 6 l Jr NJ 2 8 9 3 7\ mo n i 7 3 m H 38 v 2%." u M a. 3 3 a 2 3 a m 8 g 3 I n o. 4 F\ N- & 1 5/[AI "A- If f \k Aug. 14, 1934. w|NN, JR Y 1,970,028

WARDROBE Filed March 14, 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG] V INVENTOR JOHN F:W/NN, M CHILL;

ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 14, 1934 P'H'ENT GFFICE 1,970,028 WARDROBE JohnF. Winn, J12, Norfolk, Va., assignor to The G. Wilson Corporation,Norfolk, Va., a corporation of Virginia Application March 14, 1932,Serial No. 598,764

8 Claims.-

My invention relates to wardrobes and, in particular, to wardrobes forschool rooms.

' It is the object of my invention to provide a I wardrobe which, whenin closed position, provides awall area for use as a blackboard and,when in openposition, permits access to a closet or wardrobe area inwhich garments may be hung and material of various sorts stored. g Inparticular, it is my object to provide a novel form of door-operatingapparatus and door arrangement whereby, when the doors are open topermit access to the wardrobe, the doors are moved in such a position asnot to interfere with ingress. and egress to the wardrobe, but, whenclosed, a smooth exterior surface will be provided, either of decorativecharacter or for use as a blackboard.

It is my object to provide a sectional blackboard carried onwardrobedoors and having receptacles for chalk or other articles.

It is my object to provide a system-of guiding tracks at the topandbottom oi the doors and stabilizing arms to insure equal and uniform.movement of the doors which are suitably suspended from the upper trackon concealed rollers and suitably guided by a lower track to insureuniform movement into and out of closing position and to insure acontinuous, smooth pa'nel formed by the several doors when in closedposition.

It is a further object to provide means of ventilating the wardrobe whenthe doors are closed, which is particularlynecessary in the case of thehanging of garments of children in the wardrobe when the wardrobe isclosed and the blackboard on the exterior of the doors is in use.

It will be understood thatvarious forms of decoration, in addition to'blackboards, may be employed, such as maps and the like, or the 40exterior surface of the doors may have other types of decorativefeatures.

It is my object to provide doors which, in their open, folded position,will not interfere with the children entering or leaving the wardrobeand securing their garments and, when in such a position, they willprotect the lower track from injury and will be so braced by thestabilizing arms that any pressure bythe children against the It is myobject to provide doors hinged together with the faces of both doorsparallel when the wardrobe is open. The total weight of the pair ofdoors is supported on one overhead track by means of a trolley installedin the track, which trolley is provided with a stem to form the pintleof the hinge.

It is a further object to provide adjustable arms to hold the pair ofdoors in equilibrium, such arms being of equal length and located twofor each door, one at the top and one at the bottom.

It is my object to provide the upper arms in tension and the lower armsin compression, thus controlling the position of the outer area of thedoors with respect to the pivot joint. These arms are journaled ateither end to provide a flexible joint at the door and a pivot castingwhich is secured at one end to the floor and at the other to the headsection.

It is a further object to provide means of positioning the doors so thatthey can be perfectly aligned to present a perfect surface'by adjusting,the height of the doors by adjusting the nut and trolley stem whichforms the top hinge pintle.

It is a further object to provide the maximum space in the wardrobewiththe minimum space employed to install the'wardrob'e. It is my object toprovide access to adjustment in every direction with provision forobtaining a perfect surface combined with rigidity as the load iscarried in a straight line instead of rotating.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of the wardrobe with the doors closed;

V Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 of Figure 1 showing in full linesthe doors in their open position and in dotted lines the doors in their"closed position;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a detail of the roller support and track for the top of thedoor at the hinge of the door; I

Figure 5 is a similar view showing the lower track and hinge of thedoor;

Figure 6 is a section on the line 6 -6 of Figure 1 showing thearrangement-of the door and stabi lizing arms in connection with theupper and lower tracks;

Figure 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Figures;

Figure 8 is a bottom plan view of the sliding guide used at the bottomof the door leaves.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 1 indicates the wall of theroomhaving recessed therein a wardrobe space 2 formed by the side walls3' and back wall t. 5 indicates the floor of this wardrobe and 6 the topthereof. A depending ornamental molding extends on the outside of thewardrobe from the front wall 7 as at 7a enclosing the upper hanger trackso as to conceal the operating mechanism.

The front of the wardrobe is closed by a plurality of door leaves 8.These door leaves may 5 carry a blackboard surface 9 having a marginalbead 10 and chalk-receiving slots 11.

Any form of decoration may be employed on the doors but it is of greatimportance in the economical use of wall space in a school room to 10have a combined wardrobe and blackboard surface by which the outersurface of the door leaves may be employed as a blackboard.

The doors 8 are suspended at their upper ends by a combined hinge rollerand track construction. 12 and 13 indicate the leaves of the hinge whichhave laterally extending flanges 1'4 and 15 overlapping at theiradjacent inner ends through which are inserted the hanger bolts 16engaged on either side by the washer shoulder 17 and nut 18.

It will be noted that the doors 8 are located in front of the hingeleaves 12 and 13 and beneath the laterally-extending, overhangingmembers 14 and 15. The leaves 12 and 13 are attached to the door by theusual screws 19.

s The hanger bolt 16 carries a transverse axle 20 within its eye 21. Onthis axle are mounted spaced wheels 22 traveling within the tracks 23,which tracks are supported by the screws 24 within the top edges of thewardrobe. Attached to the inner face of the outer ends of the doorleaves are spaced eyes 25 carrying a pivot bolt 26 which supports thefree end of a stabilizing rod 27, the rear end of which iscorrespondingly pivoted at 28 on the depending bracket 29 supported onthe under side of the wardrobe top support 6a. This rod is adjustable inlength by rotation of the cap The bottom of the door is provided with asimilar stabilizing rod 30 pivoted at 31 on a yoke 32 on the inside ofthe lower edge of the door at 'its free side and at 33 on a bracket 34on the bottom of the wardrobe. 33a is an adjustment for the rod 30. Thebracket 31 is mounted upon the rear face of the door. A hinge plate 32ahas a forwardly-extending portion 33b extending beneath the doorterminating in an eye 35 overlapping with an eye 36 of the plate 37which extends beneath the door from the back plate 38.

The pivot of the hinge inserted between the ,overlapping plates 35 and36 has a pivot stud 39 mounted in a horizontal plate 40 which extendsrearwardly and has a pair of spaced depending fianges 41 adapted toslide on either side of an inverted T-shaped rib 42 having a base .plate43 attached by screws 45 to the floor 5 of the wardrobe.

Within the cabinet may be placed the brackets 46 and shelves 4'7carrying hooks 48. These members are so arranged that the doors, when 0moved into their open position, will pass by the shelves and be nestedbetween the shelves so that free and easy access may be had to theinterior of the wardrobe for the placing of articles therein or theremoval therefrom.

65.. It will be noted that the total weight of the pair of doors issupported on one overhead track with the trolley pin' acting as thepintle for the hinge. The track is located centrally over the doors andparallel with the faces of the two 70. doors.

The bottom hinge of the doors carries the combined guide shoe and pintlefitting over the T-shaped track which holds the pair of doors in avertical position relative to the upper hanger.

75., By providing four arms of equal length ar.

ranged at the top and bottom of the doors, the pair of doors is held inequilibrium.

The arms are adjustable. The upper arms are in tension and the lowerarms are in compression, thus controlling the position of the outeredges of the doors with respect to the pivot point.

If desired, when fully closed, a spring latch located at the hinge pointengages with a keep installed in the soflit, preventing the doors frombeing pushed in. Thus, the combination provides the most stable and thetruest surface for a. continuous blackboard. When the doors are lockedthey cannot be pushed in.

The whole mechanism is easy of operation and is devoid of noises, while,at the same time, a minimum of space is required for installing thewardrobe with the maximum of capacity within the wardrobe for storagepurposes.

It will be understood that this wardrobe is adaptable to mechanicaloperation, manual operation or electrical operation.

It will be understood that I desire to comprehend within my inventionsuch modifications as may be necessary to adapt it to varying conditionsand uses.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination, in an enclosure having a doorway, of a plurality ofdoor leaves hinged at adjacent edges, means for guiding said adjacentedges of the doors at right angles to the doorway, and means for guidingthe free edges of said doors and supporting and holding the doors atright angles to said guiding means, said last mentioned means comprisingstabilizing means extending from the free ends of the doors to pointsremote therefrom on the interior of the enclosure.

2. In combination, in an enclosure having a doorway, of a plurality ofdoor leaves hinged in pairs at adjacent edges, means for guidingsaidadjacent edges of the doors at right angles to the doorway, andmeans for guiding the free edges of said doors and holding andsupporting the doors at right angles to said guiding means, said lastmentioned means comprising stabilizing means extending from the freeedges of the doors to points remote therefrom on the interior of theenclosure.

3. In combination, a pair of door leaves hinged on their adjacent edgesat the top and bottom thereof, a supporting bolt attached to the tophinge, rollers thereon, a track for supporting and guiding said rollers,a guiding member attached to the top hinge, rollers thereon, a track forsupporting and guiding said rollers, a guiding member attached to thelower hinge, a sliding guideway associated therewith for guiding thelower end of the door hinge parallel to the upper trackway, stabilizingarms pivoted to said respective hinges and to brackets adjacent saidguideways at the top and bottom of the door leaves but to one side ofsaid guideways, said arms being connected to the free ends of said doorson the opposite insides thereof.

4. In combination, an upper track, a roller therein having a dependingpin, a hinge connected thereto, a pair of door leaves attached to thehinge, a lower hinge adjacent the edges of 145 thedoor leaves, a slidingguide member pivoted to said hinge below the door, a guideway for saidlower sliding guide, stabilizing arms pivoted to the free ends of saiddoor leaves at the top and bottom thereof, and pivoted to points remote150 from said door leaves on the stationary structure associated withthe doorway whereby the ends guided by the trackways will travelinwardly and outwardly and the free ends of the door leaves will traveltransversely until the door leaves are in parallelism or in alignment.

5. In combination, an upper track, a roller therein having a dependingpin, a hinge connected thereto, a pair of door leaves attached to thehinge, a lower hinge adjacent the edges of the door leaves, a slidingguide member pivoted to said hinge below the door, a guideway for saidlower sliding guide, stabilizing arms pivoted to the free ends of saiddoor leaves at the top and bottom thereof, and pivoted to points remotefrom said door leaves on the stationary structure associated with thedoorway whereby the ends guided by the trackways will travel inwardlyand outwardly and the free ends of the door leaves will traveltransversely until the door leaves are in parallelism or in alignment,said guiding arms being located at the top of the door leaves and thebottom of the door leaves.

6. In combination, a pair of door leaves hinged at the top and bottom atadjacent edges, a pintle pin for the upper hinge carrying a roller, atrack for said roller, a pintle pin for the lower hinge carrying a slideand a guide for said slide, arms connected to the free edges of the doorleaves to guide said door leaf edges at substantially right angles tothe line of movement of the hinges of the door leaves.

7. In combination, a pair of door leaves hinged at the top and bottom atadjacent edges, a pintle pin for the upper hinge carrying a roller, atrack for said roller, a pintle pin for the lower hinge carrying a slideand a guide for said slide, arms connected to the free edges of the doorleaves to guide said door leaf edges at substantially right angles tothe line of movement of the hinges of the door leaves, and means toadjust the length of said arms.

8. In combination, a pair of door leaves hinged at the top and bottom atadjacent edges, a pintle pin for the upper hinge carrying a roller, atrack for said roller, a pintle pin for the lower hinge carrying a slideand a guide for said slide, arms connected to the free edges of the doorleaves to guide said door leaf edges at substantially right angles tothe line of movement of the hinges of the door leaves, means to adjustthe length of said arms, and means to adjust the vertical relationshipof the door leaves with respect to the tracks and guides.

JOHN F. WINN, JR.

